Frederick walton



Patented Nov. 8,1881.

Fug. 47.

1?. WALTON. MANUFACTURE, EMBOSSING, AND OOLDRING 0P PANELS ANN MQLNINGS.

AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED INASUCH MANUFACTURE;

(ModeL) inder of about sixtyinches diameter. Against UNiTED STATES PATENT O F CE. q

FREDERICK WALTON, or HEATHAM noose, TWIOKENHAM, COUNTY-OF nDLnsEx, ENGLAND. i

MANUFACTURE, EMBOSSING, AND COLORING 0F PANELS AND MOLDINGS, AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE T01 all whom it may concern:

SPECIFICATION forming part of 'Letters Patent No. 249,429, dated November 8, 1881 Application filed July 26, 1881. (Model.) Patented in England May 27, 1880.

VVAL'roN,

Be it known that I, FREDERICK a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Heatham House, Twickenham, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture, Embossing, and Coloring of Pan? els and Moldings, and in Apparatus Employed insuch Manufactures,(torwhichIhavereceived Letters Patent in England, No. 2,160, dated 27th May, 1880;) and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appcrtains to make and use the same.

The object of this invention is the printing of solid relief wall decoration, whether made of oxidized-oil compositions or others of a plastic nature. To insure perfect accuracy 1 cmploy amachine, in which I both make the relief ornament and print it in a continuous operation; so I insure that a perfect register of the pattern is preserved between the raising of the relief and the imprint of color upon it. To obtain this result I employ a cast-iron cylthis cylinder I run the embossing or relief-raising roller. I pass the foundation fabricon the face of the cylinder and feed the composition between it and the embossing-roller. The ornament in reliefis thus produced. At the same time the fabric is securedto the cylinder, so

that it may not shift, by being pressed ateach edgeonto small steel pins which project slightly from the periphery of the-cylinder. After the fabric has received its ornamental relief it travels some distance round the cylinder inside a casing, through which cold air is blown, the object being to cool theplastic composition and render it more fit to resist without loss of form the pressure to which it is exposed while receiving the impression of the color-rollers. The coloring takes place almost immediately after the fabric has left the cooling-chamber. The color-rollersare arrangedround the circumference ofthe cylinder in the same manner as the rollers ot' a calico-printing or paperstaining machine. I use a fiat printing-surthe wood or other printing-surface slightly to I the form, but mainlyI trust to the natural elasticity of the composition to yield to any slight inequality. -I prefer to use elasticinking or coloring rollers. I use the same machine in the production of tapestry-like hangings, the first or relief roller producing an indented surface in imitation of tapestry, and the color-rollers printing suitable patterns on such rough or uneven surface. By printing onthe raised surface the appearance of tapestry is produced. Sometimes I leave the relief ornaments without color and print only on the rough or uneven groundwork. After the printing of my relief decoration by rollers I apply one or more revolving brushes, so as to distribute the color already put on, and to soften the outlines and tints and give that soft modulated shading produced by hand-work. The action ofthe brushes should be coincident with the run of the material, and they should have also an intermittent movement to and from the fabric. It is necessary that these brushes should be very lengthy, fine, and soft in texture, so as to enter freely all the inequalities of the sur' face. When the color is applied by means of flat blocks, flat brushes are similarly employed.

Figure 1 of the annexed drawings is a; trans verse section of a machine for the production in accordance with my invention and as described above. The backing fabric-preferably paper and woven fabric combinedis wound onto roller A, and passes from thence to a break-ro1ler,B,which is covered with Wire cardcloth, to gripe the under sideof the material. The roller B is provided with a loaded breakwheel, to regulate the strain .put'upon'the fabric. The fabric then passes round the roller 0 and under D, which spreads on a layer of composition. Itt-hen passes on to the embossingroller E, which impresses or moldsthe pattern, and at the same time forces the fabric onto tine steel pins which are ery of the cylinder I.

placed round the periphers may be made of wood, metal, or a semielastic composition composed of solidified oil mixed with finely-ground cork, which will yield to the inequalities of surface.

G G G are inking-rollers. For most purposes-such as the printing of low-relief or tapestry pattern-I prefer wood rollers out in theusualway; but for high relief I use rolliers cast or produced by electrotyping or similar process.

The brushes are shown at Li H. They may be suspended on levers, and be actuated by a shaft slightly eccentric, or by other similar means.

The combined fabric described as employed, by preference, for the backing is made by uniting cloth and paper in a machine represented at Fig. 2. The cloth is put on roller A, the paper on roller B. They are united by being passed through rollers, the compositiondescribed below being fed in between, and the two combined are to be wound up at l).

To make the combining composition, I take of-oxidized oil, sixteen hundred-weight; of New Zealand gum, two hundred-weight; of resin, four hundred-weight, three quarters, eighteen pounds. This composition or cement I call No. 1. Of this No. l cement I take sixteen pounds; ocher, twenty pounds; red lead, one pound four ounces; paraffine-wa'x, one pound. This compound, which I call No. 2, is mixed in aradial or other mixer,and a small quan titysay two pounds-of spirits of turpentine is added while mixing, to soften it slightly.

The composition for the face may be made as follows: I make a cement composed as follows: ninety-six pounds oxidized oil; eighteen pounds New Zealand gum; twenty-fourpounds resm. pounds; wood fiber, forty-eight pounds; white lead, twelve pounds wax and resin, four pounds; thick boiled oil, four pounds; bronzegreen, one and one-fourth pound. This com:- position Icall No. 3. I

'In' place of printing the fabric while it is still upon the roller which carries it when the raised pattern is produced, it may be conducted onto another roller by means of endless chains 01' bands furnished with pins to hold the fabric, so that it maynot lose-its form in passing from one supporting-surface to another. It is essential to myiny'entiomhowever, that thefabric should be securely held in form'from-the time that the raised pattern is produced until Of this cement I take forty-eightafter it has been printed, and the better way is to retain the fabric throughout on the same supporting-surface. By another plan I make a sunken roller for each color, and I force a soft color composition into such sunken forms and clean the surface by means of a doctor. I then transfer the said composition onto a sheet of fabric prepared with my oil composition in an adhesive state, which takes the colored composition out of the hollows of the color-rollers.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of a machine for the production of a raised patternfabric by the application to the face of a plane surface of molded pieces of colored composition, in the manner stated above. A-is an engraved roller having a sunken pattern. B is a plain-surface roller, running at about the same or preferably higher surface-speed than A, so as to force the composition described below as No.5 into the recesses of the roller. A doctor at O having a reciprocating motion across the roller cuts-off the superfluous composition. A roll of compound fabric, as previously described,is fixed at D, and this fabric passes between rollers E and F, where it receives a layer of composition described as No. 4. This composition being slightly adhesive, when the fabric reaches the nip between rollers A and E, the composition in the sunken recesses of A is picked out and made to adhere to the plain surface, and as the two compositions are colored different] y the effect is to produce the flat surface or groundwork of. the design of a different color to the raised work.

The No. 4 or surface composition consists of forty-eight pounds oxidized oil; forty pounds wood fiber; twelve pounds white lead; one pound paraffine-wax; one pound resin; four pounds bronze-green.

The No. 5 or relief composition consists of forty-eight pounds oxidized oil; forty pounds wood fiber; six pounds white lead; six pounds hardboiled oil; two pounds resin; two pounds wax; twopoundsVenetian red. Suffieientcoalnaphtha or spirits of turpentine are added to make it about as soft as putty, and as much wax also is added as will allow it to stick to 'Fahrenheit, to harden before use.

In some cases I take a backing of woven fabric combined with paper, and I print with oil-colors on the same in imitation of inlaid woods and the like. I indent the surface with fine lines or sunk work in any design by means of a pattern in relief on a brass or other roller. I print the same with surface blocks or rollers in several colors in the same machine, and when the color becomes set and partially dry I cut off the superfluous color by means of a doctor or knife-gage, leaving the color in the sunken design. 4

In order thus to produce work having the appearance of inlaid work, I take a roll of com- 249,429 r a s pound fabric and place it in the machine represented at Fig. 4. Aindicates the rolls. A plain roller at Bspreads the composition be- .fore described asNo. 4:,while the-roller 10,-

*which has a design in relief upon it, imprints thedesign asa sunken pattern into the surface of thecomposition. The fabric then passes througha cooling-chamber and to the printing-rollers I) D, which deposit color into the The printing-rollers are such as aroused for paper-staining, and are supplied j with good body of color, so as to more than sunken lines.

fill the line-recesses. The fabric is afterward taken into a heated drying-room to partially harden, and when the color has become suftil ciently hard andcheesy, so that it will not smear, the fabric is placed in a machine. (Shown at Fig. 5.) The fabric as taken from the drying-room isplaced hn a roll, A, and the end'is passed under aroller, B, which is pressed against roller 0 by a spring behind the bearings. The fabric then passes between rollers G and D. A slight pressure is applied between rollers B and O and between rollers O andl), enough only to keep the fabric ti the doctor F works. Thisdoctor has a very 7 sharp edge, and is made to traverse the roller with a reciprocating motion of about five hun-- -dred strokes a minute.

oil is applied at the'pointof cutting, to perfectly clean off the superfluous paint. The result is i a pattern inlaid in the fabric.

In the production of embossed paper by ma= chinery I -make an embossing-roller of metal or other material, and I deposit color into the sunken part of such roller by means ofela-stic color-rollers. I then force into the sunken pattern a sheet of paper or paper coated or combined with solid. oils or other materials by means of a counterpart roller or a roller of elastic material. By this means I emboss and print the paper or other fabric. as cloth, coated and stiffened with oil compounds, inthe same machine.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a machine for simultaneously embossing and coloring paper orother fabric. The roll of pa-peror other fabric on which a layer of oxidized-oil com positionhas been spread is placed atA. Thefabric passes from it round the roller B. i O is a roller having the pattern sunkinto it. The color is appliedto the depressions in the roller (J by means of the elastic color-rollers D andD, so that when the paper passes. bet een B and O itis forced into the depressions in the engraved roller 0 and picks up the color. The paperor t'abricthen passes .into'a drying-room. The

roller B may be a counterpart of O in metal, or it may be of slightly elastic composition formed of solidified oil and wood fiber, made to adapt itselt'to the rollerO by being run against it until a pattern is formed, as is well understood.

I also take paper or other fabric, and I emboss the same between embossing-rollers, counterj partsthe one offthe other, and as the paper passes on the rollerhaving theraised-pattern,

ght atE,where- A little raw linseed-- a revolving shaft.

of the moldings.

I print the sameby rollers the surfaces of which are slightly elastic, to yield to the inequalities of surface. I

The pattern or embossing rollers used in embossing or molding the faces of fabricscoated with oxidized-oil compositions and other fabrics require'to be quickly and easilychanged,

and in orderto do this I make the brass shells on which the pattern is cut intheformofrings,

which slide onto a mandrel fitted with a key, to

insure the right position of the ring being preserved. I can put several rings on one mandrel, so that I can produce a great variety of patterns. For instance, when I need a dado with two borders, one on each side,Iean change and vary the borders in relation to the centers. I also vary the printing-cylinders inthe same way. Figs. 7 and 7 B represent embossingrollers made with interchangeable rings assembled on a mandrel in thismannern Fig. 7 shows ainandrel with loose shells adapted for making dados and the like with varying borders.-

Fig. 7 shows a mandrel with loose shells, for rolling various widths of picture-moldings.

In ,the. production of borders for pictureframes, furniture, and thelike, which are very narrow, I put twenty to thirty on one roller, and the fabric so embossed is cut in the same machine into strips by means of circular knives fitted onto a shaft. Theknives are kept apart by means of washers the exact width of the bordersor moldings to becut. In the same machine, also, I wind the moldings so out onto sinall wooden bobbins, which are slidonto The bobbins are of the same width as the distance-pieces placed be- LOO tween the circular knives. These bobbins are pound fabric previously described, or stout paper, is wound on the roll A. B is a breakroller, covered with wire card, and weighted, to put an even strain on thecloth, which then passes between the rollersO U, to receive a layer of the composition. The compound fabriethen passes to the embossing-rollerD, which is composed of a series of concentric rings, as shown in Fig. 7". It then passes upward to two mand rels carrying ci rcularknives, (marked E E.) The knives (of which there are as many pairs as there are widths of molding) are kept apart by means of little washers the width of.

the moldings, and thus the moldings are out exactly. The moldings thus cut pass immediately onto amandrel, which has also anumber of these bobbins or washers the exact width These bobbins are slid "loosely onto, the mandrel and not keyed, and

' ure.

they are tightened up by a screw at the end, having a rubber washer, to give spring-press- The mandrel is then driven bya slipping belt slightly in excess of the speed of the em bossing-rollers, so that as theinoldings vary in thickness the slip will roll up those that might otherwise; get slack. There should be a distance of about five. or six feet between the embossing-rollers and the cutting-knives, and the fabric should pass through a coolingchamber, into which cold air is blown; otherwise the molded surfaces would be injured by the pressurein winding up. The strip of mold ings may berewonnd onto bobbins with fianges, for the purpose of storage and use. To fix this ornamental border onto wood moldings I use a machine in which the bobbin is placed on a spindle above a narrow traveling table adjustable to any angle. On this table I place the wood molding. placed on the molding by means of an elastic piece of rubber fitted to theform of the molding, and which spreads an even coat. The border is allowed to pass over this prepared surface, and is pressed on toit by an india-rubher or other elastic roller. Q Fig. 9 represents the machine referred to above for putting the moldings onto the wood. A' is the roll of molding. B is an iron roller. 0 is an iron roller with a rubber face, the face being molded to the form of the molding tobe put on. The rubber faces can be changed for different forms ofwood molding. D is an india-rubber, wiper or gage to put on the thick glue used for fixing. Fig. 10 shows one method of using tubes for placing the moldings into position until set. To continue the pressure until the glue is set I place the moldings immediately after leaving the machine between boards having spaces of two or more inches between them. Into these spaces I insertlong tubes of india-rubber, fastened at both ends, and I force water or air at suitable tempera-. ture into them. I prefer cold water to set the glue. The arrangement is represented in section at Fig. 10. A A are the boards; B B, the moldings, and O O the india-rubber tubes, to which cold water under some pressure is ad-. mitted. By another plan I continue the pressure by having an endless belt of india-rubber or other soft material to follow on the molding until the glue is set, so that the moldingissues from the machine complete. This method is illustrated by Fig. 11. A A A are pressingrollers. B B is an endless belt of india-rubber, about one inch thick; or I prefer an endless tube filled-with water, which is more elastic, and which may be about three or four inches in diameter, according to the size of moldings manufactured. O is theindia-rubber ductor to put on the glue. 1

In rolling or embossing, especially where fine lines are used, there is always great difficultyin preventing the material adhering to the rollers, and the difficulty is the greater if the rollers be warm. I have succeeded in over- The gluetor fixing is coming this by the use in the composition of a small quantity of paraffine-wax combined with soap, or alone. Most of the waxes have this quality; but I prefer paraffine-wax to any other.

When using wax I can keep the embossing-roller at a high temperature, thus insuring a fine finish and perfect sharpness of the outlines. In using paraffine-wax I find about two per cent. of the whole weight of composition gives a good result; but it varies according to the more or less adhesiveness of the composition or the use the material is intended for. If beeswax is used, more is required, and Japan wax needs at least three times as much as paraffine, and then does not produce so good an effect.

I have found that castor-oil reduced into a semi-solid condition by the evaporation of its "olatile constituents under heat can be used with great advantage, either alone or in combination with solidified linseed-oil and gum; I

and in some cases 1 use castor-oil in its natural state, combined with gum-kauri and solidified linseed-oil, the volatile constituents of the oil passing off during the combination under heat of the main materials.

I make a composition of castor-oil very suitable for panels in the following manner: Itake twenty pounds of castor-oil and add to it forty pounds of kauri-gum chips, and boil them together in a caldron until thoroughly combined and the smell of the gum is evaporated. If I want a very hard composition, I mix this composit-ion with about equal weight of fiber and coloring-matter, and then roll it into panels,

and in proportion as I want the panels more pliable I add solidified linseed-oil to the composition when in the caldron or steam-heated pan.

For the manufacture of panels for the decoration of furniture or small surfaces I employ a set of three rollers of large diameter, say twenty-four to thirty inches. Two of these. rollers are plain, and by them the composition is spread on the back fabric. The other of these large rollers carries the dies, (which are curved to the radius.) They-are fixed so that they may be easily adjusted in position or removed. A number of these dies are fixed on the roller. Where, on account of the varying form and size of dies, there is a space, ablank form is putin. Fig. 12 represents this machine in section. In working this machine the fabric at A is passed between the rollers B and O and a layer of composition spread onto it. It is then passed forward to D. This roller is shown separately at Fig. 12*. A number of dies suitable for door-panels, finger-plates, boxtops, and the like are placed upon the roller. Theycan be fixed eiiher by sliding into grooves in the roller or they can be fastened by studs at the back of the die, as shown at Fig. 12. The shell of the roller is drilled full of holes at equal distances to receive the studs, and the studs are screwed to receive nuts at the back. Blank forms are put in in the same way, to fill lines, a stippled surface maybe the spaces, when necessary. In another arrangement I have onelarge roller working by meansof a'raek motion in unison with a hori zontal table',and the dies are fixed on such ta-. ble in the same way as I fix them on the roller aforementioned, on] y that the dies do not need, curving. I feed the material between the dies} on the table and the roller which works over it, passing acloth or fabric over the roller.

Fig. 13 represents a machine for working panels and like articles from flat dies. The panel-dies are placed on the table A A. The roller B and tableA are made to travel in unison by means of a wheel on B working into a rack on each side of the table AA. Theeloth is drawn from a roller at O, and the compost tion is placed, as shown, between the cloth and the dies on the table. The table can be steamheated and the rolls driven by gears and steampower. Several dies can be placed on the table in the same way as those fixed onto the cylinder in Fig. 12. I apply to floor-cloths the method of embossin g or otherwise produein g on the surface of the fabric fine sunken lines wherever the printed pattern is to be placed. I then print with oilcolor over the lined forms with. superfiuity of color, andwhen the color is set and dry I remove thesuperfluous color by means of a doctor. The paint is thus inlaid slightly beneath or even with the surface, producing fine effects and rendering the color durable. I prefer to print by a roller-machine. In'place of engraved produced deep enough to hold a body of color. In ornamenting flo'or-cloth'in this mannerI proceed as follows: I take a jute canvas, such as is usually employed, and I place it on the roller A ofFig.

4. The composition is spread between the rollers B and E, and then receives the design from roller 0, which has the pattern in raised lines. The pattern is then printed on by the rollers D D, a superflnity of color being used. The cloth is next dried in a stove at a temperature of 100 Fahrenheit, and when sufficiently dry not to smear theeolor is taken off with a doctor,'as described in respect to Fig. 5.

Having thusdescribed the nature of my said invention and the manner of performing the same, Iwould haveit understood that I claim- 1. The manufacture of an embossed and colored fabric by spreading a plastic composition upon a suitable backing material, embossing or raising a pattern in relief upon the plastic composition by means of a suitably-engraved roller, and then, while the compound fabric is still upon the surface which supported it when it was embossed, printing color onto the embossed surface by means of printing-rollers, so as to register accurately with the embossed or raised surface. I w

2. The manufacture of an embossed and colored fabrieby spreading a plastic composition upon a suitable backing material, embossing or raising a pattern in relief upon the plastic composition by means of a suitably-engraved the compound fabric continues to beheld so that it cannotchange its form, printing. color onto the embossed surface by means of printing-rollers, so as to registeraccurately with the embossed or raised surface.

. 3. In the conduct of the process set forth in the first and second claiming clauses, causing the compound embossed fabric tobe carried from the point where the raised pattern is produced by the action of the embossing-roller through a cooling-chamber, in which, by a current of air or other cooling means, the compo sition is cooled and hardened, to the printing roller or rollers, by which the color is applied to register accurately with the raised or embossed pattern.

4. The manufacture of an embossed and colored fabric by spreading aplastic composition upon a suitable backing-material, and afterward producing a raised pattern in colors upon this compound fabric by applying to it colored composition by means of an engraved roller or rollers the hollows of which have been previously filled with such composition or compositions.

5. The manufacture of an ornamental fabric from a woven fabric and. paper combined by a suitable composition, with which also the pa.- per is surfaced, by producing thereon an indented pattern, applying colored composition over it, and finally removing the surplus composition, so as to leave the color only in the lines of the pattern.

6. The means of simultaneouslyembossing and coloring paper or other fabrics. on which a layer of oxidized-oil composition has been previously spread by the use of an embossingroller the sunken patter-ii of which is colored by means of elastic color-rollers, and into the hollows of which embossing-roller so colored the paper is afterward forced.

7. The method of embossing and printing paper, consisting in passing paper between a 'pair of embossing-rollers, and while the embossed paper still remains on the roller on which is the raised pattern applying color to the raised parts only of the paper by means of elastic color-rollers.

8. The combination of the roller upon which the fabric is wound, the break-roller, the rollers by which the fabric is coated with a layer of composition, the embossing-roller, the mandrels carrying the circular knives, and means for cooling the coated fabric, substantially as and forthe purpose hereinbefore set forth.

9. The combination, with the mechanism by which the fabric is supplied, coated, embossed, cut, and cooled, of the printing-rollers, substantially as described.

10. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the roll upon which the prepared molding or ornamental border is wound, the mechanism for supplying the wood molding and applying glue thereto, and the elastic molded face pressure -rolls, whereby the border is caused to adhere to the wood, as plying colored composition over if, and finally 10 described. removing the surplus composition, so as to leave 11. The use in the manufacture of coated fabthe color only in the lines of the pattern. rios of a, composition consisting of caster-oil 5 reduced by evaporation to a'semi-solid condi- FRED. WALTON. tion and mixed with other ingredients, sub- Witnesses: stan'tially as described. JOHN DEAN,

12. The method of omementing floor-cloth J. WATT,

by producing thereon an indented pattern, ap- Both of 17 Gracechmwh Street, London, E. 0. 

